Section 14-1-1. Definitions. As used in this ordinance and in Chapter 14, the following terms shall have the following meanings:

Animal control facility or Pound means the animal control facility for the City of Northglenn, State of Colorado, or any other place or facility temporarily or permanently designated by the City Manager or by ordinance for the impounding of dogs, cats, domestic animals, reptiles, or estrays.

Animal control officer means and includes any animal control officer appointed pursuant to the provisions of this ordinance, and any person authorized by this ordinance to perform the duties of an animal control officer.

Apiary shall mean place where bee colonies are kept.

Bovine animal means and includes any animal of the species commonly known as cattle or oxen, or other domestic animal of the genus Bos.

Cat means a mammal of the species felis domestica or other species of the family Felidae.

Community cat means a free-roaming cat that may be feral but is not wildlife, and who may be cared for by one or more residents of the immediate area, whether those resident(s) are known or unknown, and who are distinguishable from domestic cats because they are less socialized to humans and are unadoptable.

Community cat caregiver means a person who, in accordance with a good fair effort to conduct trap-neuter-return, provides care to a community cat, including food, shelter or medical care. A community cat caregiver is not the owner of the community cat(s).

Chicken means a domestic fowl of the subspecies Domesticus of the species Galluus.

Chicken coop means a physical structure where chickens are kept and that provides such chickens with protection and shelter.

Colony shall mean a hive and its equipment and appurtenances, including honeybees, comb, honey pollen and brood.

Dog means a mammal of the species canis familiaris or other species of the family Canidae.

Domestic animal means and includes any domestic quadruped or biped not otherwise defined in this section; and any domestic fowl.

Eartipping means the removal of the distal one-quarter of a community cat's left ear, which is approximately 3/8-inch, or 1 centimeter, in an adult and proportionally smaller in a kitten. Eartipping is performed under sterile conditions while the community cat is under anesthesia, in compliance with any applicable federal or state law, and under the supervision of a licensed veterinarian.

Estray means and includes any bovine animal, horse, mule or ass found running at large upon public or private lands in the City of Northglenn.

Flyway Barrier means and includes every dog kept for the purpose of guarding or protecting real or personal property which by reason of special training, breeding, or the known propensities of such dogs, known or intended by the owner of such premises to be likely to attack, or being spirited.

Guard dogs means and includes every dog kept for the purpose of guarding or protecting real or personal property which by reason of special training, breeding, or the known propensities of such dogs, known or intended by the owner of such premises to be likely to attack, or being spirited.

Hive shall mean a structure intended for the housing of a honeybee colony.

Holding fee means the fee provided by ordinance to be charged and collected by the City of Northglenn or its designated agent for the temporary holding and handling of any dog, cat, domestic animal or reptile.

Impoundment means confinement in an animal control facility, or temporary holding facility, and includes custody or possession by an animal control officer or police officer in any authorized place, vehicle, enclosure or building, pending transfer to an animal control facility or temporary holding facility or such holding facility as City Council shall, by agreement, make use of on behalf of the City or pending any investigation.

Manager means the City Manager of the City of Northglenn, or the City Manager's authorized representative.

Owner means and includes every person owning, possessing, keeping, or otherwise having the custody or control of any dog, cat, domestic animal, or reptile, subject to the provisions of ordinances of the City; and every person, of the age of eighteen years or more, in possession or control of premises upon which is kept any such dog, cat, domestic animal or reptile. An owner is not a community cat caregiver.

Parcel shall mean a contiguous tract of land under common ownership.

Pound fee means and includes all fees and charges established by the City of Northglenn for the impounding, care, boarding and release of any dog, cat, domestic animal, fowl, or reptile at the animal control facility.

Predator resistant means building construction methods applied to a coop or shelter that restrict access to its inhabitants or contents. Methods applied may take the form of, but are not limited to, latches, hooks, barrier fencing, netting, or other forms of secondary barriers to the coop.

Swarm shall mean the process by which a new honeybee colony is formed when the queen bee leaves the colony with a large group of worker bees.

Temporary holding facility means and includes any building enclosure, vehicle, structure or place designated by the manager for temporary confinement of dogs, cats, domestic animals and reptiles subject to the provisions of this ordinance.

Trap-Neuter-Return or TNR means the nonlethal process of humanely trapping, sterilizing, vaccinating for rabies, eartipping, and returning community cats to their original location.

Veterinarian means a person licensed to practice veterinary medicine.

[Source: Ord. 436, 1976; 471, 1977; 1075, 1992; 1713, 2016; 1714, 2016; 1765, 2019; 1824, 2022; 1834, 2022]

Section 14-1-2. Animal Control Officer.

A person appointed by the Manager as an animal control officer shall be an officer of the City of Northglenn and shall be authorized and empowered to enforce the ordinances of the City of Northglenn as such officer.

An animal control officer shall be an authorized public inspector of the City of Northglenn for the purposes designated or required by the provisions of this Chapter 14 of the Northglenn Municipal Code.

The animal control officer shall perform such duties as shall from time to time be provided by the ordinances of the City or by the Manager.

Whenever any federal or state law imposes upon the City of Northglenn, or upon the Mayor of City Council thereof, a duty with respect to the care, custody, keeping, seizing, impoundment or control of any dog, cat, animal, fowl, fish, reptile, or insect, such duty shall be performed by the animal control officer under the authority of this ordinance.

[Source: Ord. 436, 1976]

Section 14-1-3. Police Officers--Authority and Assistance.

It shall be lawful for any police officer of the City of Northglenn to do or perform any act or duty required, authorized or permitted to the animal control officer.

It shall be lawful for the animal control officer, or any person performing the duties of an animal control officer, in the performance of any act or duty required, authorized or permitted by ordinance, regulation or the direction of the manager, to call to his assistance any police officer of the City or any person who is a peace officer under the laws of the State of Colorado.

[Source: Ord. 436, 1976]

Section 14-1-4. Unlawful Acts.

It shall be unlawful for any person, by using or threatening to use violence, force, physical interference, or obstacle, intentionally to obstruct, impair or hinder an animal control officer or police officer in the performance of his duty.

It shall be unlawful for any person to take, seize or remove from the custody or possession of an animal control officer any dog, cat, animal or fowl which has been seized or impounded by the animal control officer.

It shall be unlawful for any person, except an animal control officer as defined by this ordinance or a person authorized by this ordinance to perform the duties of an animal control officer, to represent such person to be an animal control officer and thereby obtain possession of any dog, cat, animal or fowl.

It is unlawful and deemed a nuisance to allow any mice, rats, squirrels, skunks, rabbits, prairie dogs, gophers, or groundhogs to infest any real property within the City so as to encroach upon or cause damage to the property of another. Any abatement pursuant to Sections 9-11-7 through 9-11-12 shall conform to applicable state law and Division of Wildlife regulations.

The raising or breeding of dogs, cats, domestic fowl or reptiles for commercial purposes is prohibited. Commercial purposes shall mean any raising or breeding of dogs for financial gain or benefit, including any trading for other tangible property or animals.

There shall be no limitation on the number of household pets allowed per dwelling unit except for those set forth in other ordinances of the City of Northglenn or set forth in local or state health regulations.

[Source: Ord. 436, 1976; 1734, 2017; 1765, 2019; 1824, 2022; 1834, 2022]

Section 14-1-5. Violations--Penalty. Any violation of any of the provisions of Article 1 of Chapter 14 of the Northglenn Municipal Code shall be punishable as provided in Section 1-1-10(a)(2) of this Code.

[Source: Ord. 1130, 1995]